Milei's Malvinas Sovereignty Bill Heads to Three Committees as Senators Push for a Say of Their Own

Senators on the floor of the Argentine Senate in Buenos Aires. Photo via X/@clarincom.

By The Editors · September 23, 2026 · 2 min read

Key Facts

Where it stands:The National Sovereignty Defense bill, submitted September 17, was referred to the Defense, Criminal Legislation and Foreign Relations committees of the Chamber of Deputies, all chaired by the governing coalition.
What it does:Up to 20 years in prison for unauthorized resource exploration in waters Argentina claims, trials in absentia, a presidential National Security Council and the repeal of Law 26.659.
The objections:Opposition deputies question provisions unrelated to the islands, such as limits on foreign campaign financing, and whether repealing Law 26.659 could benefit already-sanctioned companies.
The Senate's move:Senate committees were scheduled to begin debating proposals Wednesday for a permanent congressional commission on the Malvinas and the South Atlantic.

The National Sovereignty Defense Law that Milei sent to Congress to toughen Argentina's campaign against companies working in and around the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) has been referred to three committees in the Chamber of Deputies, beginning a legislative path that opposition lawmakers are already trying to reshape.

In the Chamber of Deputies

The bill, which the government submitted on September 17, was sent to the National Defense, Criminal Legislation and Foreign Relations committees, chaired respectively by Carlos Zapata, Laura Rodríguez Machado and Juliana Santillán, all members of the governing coalition. The committees will have to fit the debate around the 2027 budget, which the Chamber is expected to take up in early October.

The 133-article text goes well beyond the islands. It would impose prison sentences of up to 20 years for unauthorized exploration of non-renewable resources in waters Argentina claims, fines ranging from 4,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil, license cancellations and bans of 5 to 20 years, and allow trials in absentia. It would also create a National Security Council chaired by the president, add a criminal offense punishing "coordinated disinformation campaigns" funded by foreign states with 5 to 12 years in prison, restrict campaign financing by non-resident foreigners, and repeal Law 26.659, the existing statute sanctioning unauthorized hydrocarbon activity around the islands.

The Objections

That breadth is drawing fire. "And what does this have to do with Malvinas?" asked Agustín Rossi of Unión por la Patria, pointing to the bill's restrictions on foreigners' participation in Argentine elections. Maximiliano Ferraro of the Civic Coalition warned that the bill "completely repeals Law 26.659, which protects Argentine resources," and questioned whether the rewrite could amount to a hidden amnesty for companies Argentina has already sanctioned. The government has so far added dozens of companies and individuals to its sanctions list under the current framework.

The Senate's Push

In the Senate, the push is for Congress to claim a permanent role of its own. Senator Carolina Moisés of Convicción Federal sought immediate floor treatment of a bill creating a permanent bicameral commission on the Malvinas and the South Atlantic. "What Convicción Federal wants is to enforce the participation that the Legislative Branch must have," she said. The governing bloc avoided a floor vote by agreeing to send the proposals to committee.

The Senate's Constitutional Affairs and Foreign Relations committees, chaired by Agustín Coto and Francisco Paoltroni, were scheduled to meet jointly Wednesday afternoon to begin debating Moisés's bill alongside two proposals from former Chaco governor Jorge Capitanich, one of which would create a commission to monitor and set strategy on the Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlantic.

The congressional maneuvering follows weeks in which Milei has run Malvinas policy largely from the executive branch, from his September 3 national address to a decree ordering every state agency to align its foreign dealings with the sovereignty claim. The courts have also moved: a federal judge in Tierra del Fuego ordered a halt to the Sea Lion oil project near the islands last week.